How to get started with allthings on Zapier

The first thing you’ll need to do to get started with hooking up allthings with Zapier, is create an account with Zapier. This is free if you use 5 or fewer Zaps, but if you use more, you may want to check out their pricing plan

You’ll need to provide an email, your name and a password in order to sign up. Afterward you should receive a welcome email confirming your account.

Now you can create a Zap!

Note: after you have signed up for Zapier, you will only need to be logged into Zapier rather than sign up every time you want to create a new Zap.

Step 2: Choose a Trigger and Action

First, click on the ‘Make a Zap!’ button on your dashboard. Next you’ll need to choose a trigger and action. Use the drop-downs to choose the app you’d like to connect to allthings. In this example, I’ll be detailing how to create a Zap between Evernote and Allthings.

At this stage you also choose the trigger and action. This can be done by selecting an available trigger and action from the drop-downs beneath the apps’ logos. In the example below, the trigger is if a note is created in Evernote, this automatically results in a new Thing in allthings.

Step 3: Connecting your accounts

Next you'll choose which account for the trigger and action app you want to use. In this example, if you didn’t have an Evernote account, you would need to go to their website and create one. Once created, go back to the Zapier page, and after clicking on the drop-down enter you’ll be asked togive your new Account a name or label, which is just a handy name for you to recognize within Zapier.

After naming the Evernote account you’re going to use and then selecting ‘Continue’, a pop-up should appear asking you to authorize Zapier’s access to your Evernote account. This is needed to allow Zaps between Evernote and other apps.

You’ll then need to do the same with your allthings’ account.

Step 4: Filter Triggers

With this form you will be able to define the exact circumstances needed for the trigger to occur and cause the action.

Some triggers have pre-existing filters you'll choose from a drop-down. You can also choose a custom filter.

Custom filters are great for making sure Zaps only trigger on certain trigger items. For instance, only notes that contain a particular word in the title or in the note. It's a simple way to get the granularity you need in your Zaps. This is optional.

In the example below, I’ve set the trigger so that when a note is created in any notebook, a new Thing will be triggered only if a note is created (anywhere in Evernote) with a title containing the word ‘Thoughts’, for example.

The key, which you choose from the leftmost drop-down. This tells your Zap what specific spot in the trigger app to check for data to filter off of.The condition, which you choose from the center drop-down. This is the logic applied by your filter.The value, which you input in the text box on the right. This is the value your filter checks against the logic.

Note: if you’re creating custom filters, they will only work if each of the three fields is filled in.

Common Problems with Filters:

If you have multiple filters and want them all to apply to each task, make sure to force them to use AND logic. You can create AND filters using the "Add AND Filter" button under each custom filter.

If you use the "(text) Exactly matches" condition, sometimes that will filter more than you expect. Unless there are multiple values coming through for the field your filter is monitoring, you should use "(text) contains" instead to avoid that problem.

If you use AND filters and they are both looking at the same field, it's more likely that your Zap will be filtering every triggered task. Unless you are absolutely sure there is more than one value you need to filter for that field, multiple AND filters for the same field should be avoided.

The value field of a filter has a 255 character limit.

Step 5: Creating the Action:

In this step, you'll create the object that will be added to the action app each time your Zap triggers. By clicking the "Insert Fields" button on the right of a field, you'll bring up a list of fields you can include in your Zap. After choosing a field, a placeholder for that field will be inserted, such as "Title" in the screenshot below:

This screenshot means that after the trigger (creating a new note) occurs, a new Thing will appear in the ‘Evernote Test List’ (because that’s the list I wanted it to appear in) with the title of the note as the title of the new Thing (because I have selected ‘Title’, which refers to the original title of the note that was created) and the full note’s content in the new Thing’s description field (because I selected ‘Content Text’).

Step 6: Testing the Zap

This step is for testing out your Zap before you turn it on. To start, click the button to load samples from the trigger app.

NOTE: If you have no data or not the necessary data matching your filters in the trigger app, you'll likely need to create the data which matches your preferences to test in that app. If this is the case, you’ll see the following:

If this is the case, make sure, for this test that you add the necessary data/ example to Evernote (the trigger app) and refresh the sample then test.

Step 6 - Enable Your Zap

The last thing to do is give your Zap a name. This only matters for identifying your Zap in the dashboard.